Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Multraship and Damen agree deals for Carrousel Rave tugs and ASD

Leading
towage and salvage specialist Multraship, through its 100-per cent-owned
subsidiary Novatug BV, has commissioned the construction of two evolutionary
Carrousel Rave Tugs (CRTs) from Damen Shipyards Group. These new vessels will
provide tug operators with more power, more freedom and more durability, as
well as eliminating the risk of capsizing under a tow load.

Construction
of the CRTs will begin immediately under an agreement between Novatug, with
Multraship as its first customer, and Damen subsidiary Van der Velden
Barkemeyer GmbH. The hulls of the vessels will be built by German shipyard
Theodor Buschmann GmbH in Hamburg, with final outfitting carried out by Damen
Maaskant Shipyards in Stellendam, the Netherlands. Delivery of the Bureau
Veritas-classed vessels is scheduled for first-quarter 2017.

The
RAVE design was developed by leading naval architecture consultancy Robert
Allan Ltd, in conjunction with Voith GmbH. The CRTs have an overall length of
32 metres, and a bollard pull of minimum 70 tonnes. Propulsion is via two Voith
thruster units and two ABC main engines of 2,650 kW operating at 1000 rpm. Free
running speed is over 14 knots at 5,300 kW.

The
Carrousel tug’s lower operational costs, speed of action and enhanced control
over the tow can provide huge advantages over conventional tugs, for example by
widening or even removing tidal and/or weather windows for certain ports.
Novatug will offer the Carrousel Rave tugs on the basis of long-term bareboat
charters, basically a financial or operational lease construction, which is
both customary and proven in other capital-intensive industries such as
aviation.

Leendert
Muller, managing director of Multraship, says, "Safety is always our
overriding objective, and that it is why we have opted wholeheartedly to
produce the Novatug CRT. This new tug design, for the first time, eliminates
what has always been the most significant threat to safety in towing – the risk
of capsizing under a tow load. The benefits in terms of efficiency and
flexibility, meanwhile, are also enormous".

“The
involvement of Theodor Buschmann and Maaskant completes the so-called Novatug
'dream team' which, over the years, has benefited greatly from the input of
Voith, Robert Allan, ABC and the Luyt Group, working closely together and using
all their experience and expertise to produce a design which has been awarded
the Dutch Maritime Innovation Award.”

Meanwhile,
Multraship has also agreed a deal with Damen for a new state-of-the-art ASD
3212 tug as part of its planned fleet expansion to keep pace with increasing
demand for its specialist services.

The
Dutch-flag, LR-registered Multratug 31 was
built at Damen Song Cam, Vietnam. A sister vessel to Multratugs 19, 29 and 30, it will operate mainly in the Western
Scheldt area. It has a maximum bollard pull of 83.2 tonnes and a maximum speed
of 15 knots. The 453 gt vessel is powered by two Caterpillar 3516C engines and
has two Rolls Royce Azimuth thrusters and a 2,800 mm-diameter controllable
pitch propeller.

The
vessel’s deck layout features a hydraulically driven escort double drum winch
forward and single drum aft, and a 25 mt deck crane. There are two one-man
cabins, four two-man cabins, a mess room and galley.

Leendert
Muller says, “This new tug is needed, because our workload is still increasing
and we are confident this will be the case for several years to come. This is
not an industry where you can stand still. If you want to stay at the top, you
have to keep investing in new vessels, new equipment, new technology, and good
people. That is what Multraship is doing, and will continue to do.”

The signing ceremony for the two
CRTs and the ADS 3212 will take place at the Damen stand, No. 1221, at the
Europoort exhibition in Rotterdam at 1500hrs on 4 November. Photos will be
available from chris@merlinco.comafter
the signing ceremony has taken place.

Note to editors:

The
Carrousel towing system is as simple as it is effective, consisting of a
relatively straightforward steel construction, basically a freely rotating ring
(the actual ‘Carrousel’) fitted around the superstructure of the tug. It is on
this freely rotating ring that the tug’s towing point is located, as opposed to
a conventional fixed towing point that has been the case for as long as towing
has existed.

Tugboats
fitted with the Carrousel towing system can turn around freely relative to the
tow without letting go of the line. When there is force on the line, the
shifting towing point also changes the centre of force relative to the tug’s
centre of gravity. The tug’s own hull profile can safely be used for generating
braking and/or steering forces, based on the lateral resistance of the hull
through the water and given the kinetic energy present in the moving tow and/or
the current. A Carrousel tug can brake or steer a moving tow much better,
faster, cheaper and from any position forward or aft, than any regular tug
relying on installed power for braking or steering. A Carrousel tug simply
cannot be capsized by a tow load.

For
its braking and steering operations, a Carrousel tug needs far less added
energy, resulting in significantly reduced fuel consumption and emissions. The
cost-saving potential on fuel alone is at least 25 per cent, depending on the
operational profile of the tugboat. The fact that a tugboat with the Carrousel
towing system depends on its lateral hull resistance more than its engines and
propulsion systems in order to generate braking and steering forces also
results in significantly less mechanical wear on the propulsion train, with
lower annual repair and maintenance costs and a longer economic life for the
tug itself.

Multraship
is a leading Dutch towage and salvage company. It is a division of the Muller
Maritime Group, which has been engaged in the shipping industry for more than
230 years. The company's core activities include harbour towage, salvage &
wreck removal, ocean towage and support to offshore energy & dredging
industries. Multraship operates and manages a large fleet of tugs, salvage
vessels, floating sheerlegs and other craft equipped with modern towage,
salvage and fire-fighting equipment and manned by experienced and
highly-trained masters and crew. www.multraship.com